Moshe Safdie returns to the city of his alma mater to draw the master plan for the
McGill University Health Centre's Glen Campus

Montreal, November 21, 2006-Dr. Arthur T. Porter, Director General and CEO of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), announced today that Moshe Safdie, a McGill University graduate and world-renowned architect, has accepted to design the master plan for the Glen Campus of the MUHC, a 43-acre former brownfield site destined to revitalize several neighbourhoods. Mr. Safdie will join a consortium of elite Quebec and U.S. architects in working on the $1.579-billion redevelopment project. The MUHC will be his first academic healthcare centre.

Three years after graduating from McGill, 24-year-old Moshe Safdie shone a spotlight on Montreal that was seen around the world when he took charge of the master plan for Expo '67 and created what is undeniably a 20th century icon with Habitat '67. Since that initial project, the now veteran architect's work has spanned the globe and includes a rich array of public and academic institutions as well as major cultural and civic projects. His return home to Montreal represents a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and assure the city's appointment as a UNESCO City of Design.

"After only one conversation with Moshe Safdie, I realized this is a man who respects the people who will ultimately use the buildings he creates," stated Dr. Arthur T. Porter. "It's not about grandiose architecture or what's fashionable today. Mr. Safdie's soft-spoken manner and philosophy convinced me that the healing environment which will be created on the MUHC's Glen Campus will indeed shape the face of health care in the 21st century."

There are myriad challenges in designing a world-class academic healthcare campus, which is dedicated to integrated clinical care for children and adults as well as research and teaching. From a functional and technical design perspective, these challenges include creating distinct yet connected environments, ensuring user-friendliness for patients, families, visitors and personnel, and planning buildings that can evolve apace of ever-advancing medical practice and science. Success also hinges on how well the campus fits into its surroundings and how people interact with the space.

"Hospital environments have come to be synonymous with alienation, as they have grown larger, more confusing and an assemblage of patched-up additions. I am most excited about the challenge and opportunity presented by the MUHC to create a new model for healthcare architecture for the 21st century. I look forward to meeting the objectives articulated by David Culver and Arthur Porter, notably of creating a place of community, humanity and comfort for patients, their families and the dedicated healthcare professionals. Rarely has there been an opportunity to re-examine hospital architecture from first principles," noted Moshe Safdie.

The consortium charged with designing the two campuses for the MUHC comprises Les architectes Lemay et associés; Jodoin Lamarre Pratte et associés architectes; André Ibghy Architectes; and Menkès Shooner Dagenais Letourneux. In addition to Moshe Safdie & Associates, Perkins+Will will contribute invaluable international expertise to the team, which has a combined total of more than one hundred years of experience in major projects.

"We have an incredibly dynamic group," stated Louis T. Lemay, Senior Architect and President, Les architectes Lemay et associés. "The energy that will drive this project is sure to guarantee world-class facilities that are on the vanguard of the best in healthcare design trends. We're all looking forward to the creative process."

Safdie's Canadian projects include Montreal's Habitat '67 and Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (last pavilion); Quebec City's Musée de la civilisation; Ottawa's National Gallery of Canada; Toronto's Pearson International Airport (rebuild); and Vancouver's largest ever capital project, Library Square. His peers and the international community have recognized his extensive repertoire of projects. Recent building openings include the Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah and the Yad Vashem Museum in Jerusalem. The Khalsa Memorial Complex, the national museum of the Sikh people in Punjab, India, is currently under construction. He has recently been commissioned to design a $3.4-billion integrated resort for the Venetian Sands in Singapore, to be complete in 2009.

The MUHC has registered the Redevelopment Project with the Canada Green Building Council and is seeking LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification-a benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings-for both the Glen and Mountain campuses.

About the MUHC Redevelopment Project
Guided by its mission and its role as the nerve centre of the McGill integrated university hospital network, the MUHC is carrying out a $1.579-billion Redevelopment Project that will help the Government achieve its vision for academic medicine in Quebec. Excellence in patient care, research, education and technology assessment will be fostered on two state-of-art campuses-The Mountain and the Glen-and through strong relationships with healthcare partners. Each LEED®-registered campus will be designed to provide patients and their families with "The Best Care For Life" in a healing environment that is anchored in best sustainable development practices, including BOMA Go Green guidelines.

About the MUHC
The MUHC is a comprehensive academic health institution with an international reputation for excellence in clinical programmes, research, teaching and technology evaluation. The MUHC is a merger of five teaching hospitals affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University: the Montreal Children's, Montreal General, Royal Victoria, and Montreal Neurological hospitals, and the Montreal Chest Institute. Building on the tradition of medical leadership of the founding hospitals, the goal of the MUHC is to provide patient care based on the most advanced knowledge in the healthcare field and to contribute to the development of new knowledge.

The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) is thrilled that award-winning Quebec architects have stepped up to design the health centre's two campuses—a challenge that will put their combined experience and expertise to the test as the $1.579B project unfolds.

"Our community has been waiting a long time for new facilities. We have an ambitious functional and technical programme and clinical plan," stated Dr. Arthur T. Porter, Director General and CEO of the MUHC. "Our architects must work with a fixed budget and reconcile our high expectations against their architectural vision. I'm sure they're up to it!"

The MUHC is a research-intensive institution that provides clinical care across the entire spectrum of ages and teaches the next generation of health care professionals. The Redevelopment Project will consolidate the MUHC's services onto two campuses—the Mountain and the Glen. While each campus has particular challenges, the architects will need to create an overall environment that promotes optimal efficiency for all users.

"Our association with the MUHC at the programming stage allowed us to quickly grasp this project's importance. The scope compares favourably with prestigious projects that we've had the privilege of visiting around the world," remarked Michel Broz, Senior Architect and Partner, Jodoin Lamarre Pratte. "We want to help the MUHC achieve its objectives and provide Montreal with a health care institution that will be an international reference from a functional, operational, architectural and aesthetic perspective."

The Glen Campus is a 43-acre site with green space and ample room for future expansion. Designing a campus that will meet the needs of various groups is no small feat, especially when the goal is to create a village-like complex for children and adults.

"Understanding a child's unique perspective of the world, with all of his or her fears and apprehensions during a hospital visit, is critical. The careful use of scale, colour and wayfinding clues are ways to embrace that world and attain our design objectives," noted André Ibghy, Senior Architect, André Ibghy Architectes. "The design for the Montreal Children's Hospital must bring form to the hospital's commitment to a supportive, family-centred environment. In addition, it will need to promote its historic identity while ensuring a harmonious integration with other campus members."

The Mountain Campus will modernize the Montreal General Hospital and provide a new pavilion for the renowned Montreal Neurological Hospital. As time is a life-saving factor in much of the care provided in these facilities, adjacency of services such as the tertiary trauma bay, operating suites, imaging rooms and intensive care and coronary care units is crucial.

"With the Mountain Campus, we have a unique opportunity to integrate the hospital complex more subtly into the fabric of the city," stated Anik Shooner, Senior Architect and Partner, Menkès Shooner Dagenais Letourneux. "We can also make the access between the city and the upper reaches of the mountain a pleasant experience."

Among the long list of Quebec and Ontario projects that can be attributed to the consortium's partners are the Centre hospitalier Pierre-LeGardeur, the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Sherbrooke, the Cité de la santé Laval, the Cancer Centre of the Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital, the Centre hospitalier Anna Laberge, the Héma-Québec Laboratory, the Centre hospitalier de St-Eustache, the Centre hospitalier Pierre-Boucher, École polytechnique de Montréal, the Centre des technologies de l'aluminium, the Université de Montréal's Marcelle-Coutu, Jean-Coutu and Joseph-Armand Bombardier pavilions, the Campus de Longueuil (Cité du savoir), Université Laval's Research Centre and Biochem Pharma's research laboratories. The architects have also carried out projects around the world, including Burkina-Faso, New Delhi and Kuwait, and contributed to preliminary activities related to the MUHC's Redevelopment Project, such as architectural pre-concepts and studies.

The MUHC has registered the Redevelopment Project with the Canada Green Building Council and is seeking LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification—a benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings—for its Mountain and Glen campuses.

a couple of renderings from the Building.ca website... but I'm sure this is very very preliminary. With Safdie now involved, we will probably soon begin to get a more specific idea of what their architectural vision is...

Backgrounder on Master Architect for MUHC Redevelopment Project
A Team Befitting the MUHC’s Pursuit of Excellence

To bring to life its vision of a healthcare centre benefiting the medical, scientific and academic communities, as well as all Quebecers, the MUHC has selected the following architectural experts to design the master architectural plan and buildings that will form the Glen and Mountain campuses. They are entrusted with creating vibrant, living centres for patients, families, staff and the entire community.

Perkins+Will; and
Moshe Safdie & Associates.
Leading Quebec Architects to Manage a Team of 60 Specialists
Daniel Auclair, Michel Broz, Michel Gamache, Denis Gaudreault, Robert Hamilton, Raynald St-Hilaire, André Ibghy, Marc Laurendeau, Louis Lemay, Claude Létourneau, Gaétan Roy, Anik Shooner, and Marc-André Tellier will assume project leadership. Their longstanding experience on major projects involving hospital, research and academic institutions represents a considerable asset for the MUHC. On the vanguard of healthcare design trends, they have collected many awards and distinctions for their work.

A number of the consortium’s members are already acquainted with the reality, constraints and objectives of the MUHC, having been involved with the:

Initial architectural concepts for the Glen and Mountain campuses, the initial master building plan and various associated studies;
Study for the partial retrofitting of the Radio-oncology department of the Montreal General Hospital; and with
The enlargement plan for the Research Institute of the MUHC in the Livingston Pavilion of the Montreal General Hospital.
In having an understanding of the MUHC’s particular needs, the consortium will be well positioned to create environments that favour the necessary links between medical, research and teaching teams, and make the MUHC an international healthcare reference.

In addition to establishing synergy amongst our health centre’s activities, the master architectural team will design the two campuses such that the spaces will be flexible and capable of adapting apace of evolving technologies. The team will also support the MUHC’s sustainable development objectives, ensuring that the institution can obtain LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification and meet the norms of the Canada Green Building Council.

Successful Quebec Healthcare Designs
The following represents a selection of exemplary projects within the Quebec health care arena on which members of the Quebec consortium have played a role:

CHUS Hôtel-Dieu (2003-2009): Expansion and renovation of Hôtel-Dieu Hospital with the goal of modernizing infrastructures. Particular attention was paid to urban integration and environmental components.

Centre hospitalier Pierre-LeGardeur (1997-2004): Construction of a short-stay centre (272 beds) and an ambulatory centre. The design favoured distinct accesses for different users and the future expansion of three buildings.

Jewish General Hospital (2003-2006): Construction of the integrated Cancer Centre through the enlargement of a pavilion. The project integrated new research and ambulatory care trends.

Centre hospitalier Pierre-Boucher (2001-2007): Construction of an ambulatory centre, enlargement of the ORs, clinical laboratories and intensive care unit, as well the renovation of several department areas. The project included a building with a high-energy performance.

Internationally-renowned Architects
Perkins+ Will
Represented by Jean Mah, Perkins+Will brings exceptional healthcare design experience to the project. Perkins+Will’s advocacy of sustainable development since its inception in 1935 will help ensure that the campuses’ designs have innovative flair and buildings that will honour the broader goals of society.

Moshe Safdie & Associates
Moshe Safdie & Associates is recognized throughout the world for iconic architecture, light-infused meeting spaces in cities and human ideals. Moshe Safdie will ensure that the design encourages human interaction, makes a bold but honest statement and integrates well with the neighbouring urban fabric.

Additional Expertise
The consortium will call upon the expertise of Murphy Hilgers Architects insofar as the process and completion of projects in PPP mode are concerned, if required following the government’s evaluation of the business case commissioned by the Agence des partenariats public-privé du Québec. Also included in the list of collaborators are Vermeulens Cost Consultants (a specialist in the estimation of costs) and GPR Planners Collaborative Inc. (a leader in the design of laboratories and research environments).

Location
The Glen Campus borders Westmount and the Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and Sud-Ouest boroughs. It is located at the top of the St-Jacques Street escarpment beside the Vendôme commuter station. To view the Glen site via our Webcam service click here (no longer functions).

Campus Activities and Infrastructure
The campus will feature adult inpatient facilities, the Montreal Children’s Hospital, and the Research Institute of the MUHC, including its Centre for Innovative Medicine. The Montreal Shriners Hospital is also expected to be a part of the campus, and would be built strategically adjacent to The Children’ s. Ambulatory, administrative and educational activities will be positioned either on, adjacent or in close proximity of the Glen. A total of 518 beds will be provided, 364 of which for adults and 154 for pediatrics. A total of 21 operating rooms are being planned, 14 of which for adults and 7 for pediatrics.

Quality Patient Care and Safety
Brand-new state-of-the-art facilities will be designed in such a way as to promote healing and create the best possible work environment for medical professionals and support personnel. Countless elements will be incorporated in the final design, from improved air and ventilation systems to green space.

Mountain Campus
Location
The Mountain Campus borders Mount-Royal Park. It is in the heart of downtown Montreal on Pine and Cedar avenues and University Street.

Campus Activities and Infrastructure
The campus will offer a range of inpatient and ambulatory care, and will house the MUHC’s Trauma Centre. A total of 344 beds will be provided, including 102 beds for neurosciences and 12 short-stay unit beds. A total of 21 operating rooms are being planned, 15 of which for general surgery and 6 specifically for neurosurgery.

Quality Patient Care and Safety
Major renovations and an expansion will provide modern facilities, aligned with the latest government standards for university hospitals. Single patient rooms on new floor set-ups will increase peace and quiet and promote infection control. Natural light and easier wayfinding will also improve the hospital environment. Adjacencies and centralization will increase flexibility and patient safety: Key services such as OR suites, imaging rooms and intensive care units will be located close to one another. Centralized EEG/EMG and sterilization departments, pharmacy, admission services, medical archives, printing and messenger services will serve the entire campus.

New Neuro Hospital Pavilion
By consolidating under the roof of a new pavilion all inpatient care currently provided at the Montreal General (neuro-trauma and neurology, notably cerebrovascular accidents) and the Montreal Neurological hospitals, (neurosurgery and neurology), as well as the administration of the neurosciences mission, operational efficiency will be maximized. Support services (general and clinical), human resources, high-tech equipment, and the technical platform will be shared and utilized better.

The Montreal Neurological Institute Site
Outpatient neuro-oncology clinics (except treatments, which will take place at the Cancer Centre on the Glen Campus), and neuroscience clinics (epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, motor conditions, post-polio, prevention of cerebrovascular accidents) will be located on University Street at the MNI site. A portion of clinical neuroscience research will also remain there to support the outpatient clinics.

This chart outlines the full spectrum of services at the Mountain Campus:

mega report from 2005 on traffic situation around the Glen Yards and suggested solutions, including $10 million of highway reconfiguration work to build new onramps and offramps serving the site (including the one nearly completed)